Mustangs Northwest Pony Trails - Big Country Trail

Pony Trails Will Be Rolling Through The Great Northwest During The Mustangs Northwest Show

Jeff Ford

July 1, 2004

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Pony Trails. We've gotten so used to talking about them it's hard to believe we've been doing these drives since 1997. It's also hard to believe how it's grown over the years. Once we had a hard time imagining 200 cars, especially when only 12 showed up at our first event during the Silver Springs show.

Now things are different. We were stunned last year when we saw 428 cars lined up for Pony Trails at the Mustangs Northwest show in Bellevue, Washington. We've been to many car shows that weren't that big, and that was just the trail.

"From the Forest to the Sea, Let the Mustangs Run Free" is the theme for this year's Mustangs Northwest Pony Trails on July 16. The trailhead is at Bellevue Community College, with the first group leaving at 8:30 a.m. This year's trail is approximately 170 miles, taking about four hours. We'll travel from the foothills of the Cascade Mountains through the rural northwest country, then toward the lovely views from Chuckanut Drive overlooking Puget Sound. Continuing south, we'll find the trail's end at the Tulalip Casino in Marysville.

Mustangs Northwest always puts on a great show. On Thursday, you'll have anything from Cougars and Tigers to Shelbys and Lightnings blazing around the track at Pacific Raceway. On Saturday, the Concours event is something to behold with some of the most pristine Mustangs you're likely to see. The Sunday show is without a doubt one of the largest in the nation, featuring so many Mustangs and Fords of all kinds that it makes for a full day.

As we say at the beginning of each trail, we are going to a specific location. If you choose to follow our route, you do so of your own free will. Should something befall you while on the trail, you are solely responsible for your actions and deeds. Mustang Monthly and Mustang & Fords are not responsible.

New AwardLast year around the time of the Mustangs Northwest Mustang Roundup, we lost a valuable asset to the Ford hobby. In a tragic accident, Jeff Kramer was taken from us. If the name doesn't sound familiar, it's because he was known to but a few in the vast group of hobbyists in the Seattle area.

According to all who knew him, Jeff's enthusiasm for the car hobby, and vintage Mustangs in particular, was exceptional-pretty amazing for an 18-year-old. He could have gone to the imports as so many have. But Jeff was swept up in the same joy for vintage Mustangs so many of us experience. Since Jeff's passing, we've met his father via e-mail. If his father is any indication, the son was quite a man.

What Jeff may have lacked in knowledge he made up for in desire and effort. He enjoyed his Mustang and was passionate about attending events like the Mustangs Northwest Roundup and Pony Trails. Due to the ground swell of support in the Seattle area for naming an award after Jeff, we are doing just that.